A Place To Crash
by adventurous97
Summary: Remember how Halstead had a 100,000 bounty on his head? This FanFic is my take on what could have happened when Erin let Jay crash at her apartment after the bar shooting. #Linstead. Chapter 11 now up!
1. Feelings

**Hi again CF fans! I'm so sorry that I haven't posted any new stories since August - my life has been really hectic the past 2 months. However, I'm happy to announce that this is the first chapter of my new story! Yay! For all you amazing _Bad Timing _fans out there, the first chapter of the sequel will be posted soon! Stay tuned!**

A Place To Crash

Chapter 1

Erin locked the front door of her apartment after Jay had followed her in with a duffel bag full of his stuff. She put her keys, phone, and purse down on the table and headed straight for the fridge. As she gulped down a glass of cold water, Jay plopped down on her sofa, after putting his bag on the floor. He leaned over and put his head in his hands.

After walking over and sitting down next to him the sofa, she looked at Jay and said, "Jay, it wasn't your fault. She's going to be okay."

"With a bullet in her neck? I'm not so sure," Jay retorted.

"Hey," Erin said affirmatively, "There was nothing else you could have done."

"I could have chosen _not _to go out to a bar to get a drink tonight," Jay suggested.

"But then I wouldn't have had anyone waiting for me," Erin reassured him with a small smile, "And, besides, I'm glad I saw the guy walk in so I could push you out of the way. If you had gotten shot…"

"What, Erin?" Jay asked, turning towards her as he heard her voice falter. For a second, he thought her saw tears in her eyes, but after a split second they were gone. Erin sighed and replied, "If you had gotten shot, I would probably be sitting in that hospital refusing Voight's orders to go home and sleep. Because I care about you so much, Jay, and I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."

"I feel the same," Jay admitted. "I wouldn't want anyone else for a partner."

"Really?" Erin said, surprised.

"No…unless there was a version of you who let me drive," Jay smirked.

"Oh, very funny," Erin said, playfully punching him in the shoulder. They shared a light laugh and Jay said, "Thank you for this. I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. If you're here, then I can keep an eye on you," Erin said, smirking back. "Let's just hope that they didn't track you here."

"I'm sure they didn't," Jay said with a small amount of uncertainty in his voice. Erin noticed, and said, "You want to open a beer?"

"I'd rather stay sober for the rest of the night, thanks," Jay declined, "Where am I sleeping?"

Erin, without replying, got up and headed for the back hallway. When she returned with a pile of blankets and a pillow, she tossed them at Jay's face, hitting right on target. "On the couch," she replied verbally, followed by a laugh.

"Gee, thanks," Jay fake-pouted. His response was met with an eye-roll from Erin, who said goodnight and turned around to head for her bedroom.

***The next morning***

Erin woke up from a deep sleep, and her eyes burned from the strong sunlight flowing in through her window. She leaned over to check her clock, and after almost having a panic attack that she overslept her alarm, she was relieved to be reminded that it was Saturday.

And Saturday meant no work.

Upon reading the time, she sighed and laid on her back, staring at the ceiling. It was almost 10am, and even though she hadn't yet had her morning coffee, she didn't need caffeine to remember the dream she had had during the night. She had been dreaming about Severide.

It had pained part of her to break up with Kelly when he was in such a bad place, but another part of her didn't want to be the girl he stood up at the restaurant. She had understood where he was, but she didn't want to be dragged into his downward spiral. Hence, her breakup in the middle of the street two days before. Kelly had been sad, understandably, but he had clearly been more concerned about drinking than talking to her. Maybe he had never been right for her after all.

After trying to push away all her sad thoughts by reassuring herself that she did the right thing for herself by breaking up with Kelly, she dragged herself out of bed and headed for her closet to find a sweater to put over her t-shirt. As she opened her bedroom door, her nostrils were filled with the tempting aroma of cooked breakfast food. After almost having another panic moment, she remembered that Jay was staying with her. _I didn't know he could cook, _she thought to herself, smiling a little.

As she entered the kitchen and found Jay in shorts and a t-shirt at her cooktop, she joked, "I could get used to this."

Jay, turning his head so he could see Erin in a baggy sweater and relaxed pajama pants, smiled and said, "Good morning to you too, Erin."

"Good morning, Jay," Erin said, "What are you cooking? I didn't know you could cook."

"Well, when you're single for a long time, you learn how to cook for yourself," Jay said, serving up scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon onto two breakfast plates. He put one down in front of Erin, who had sat down on the other side of the counter, and began eating his while standing up.

Erin grunted in surprise and approval. "This is really good. Seriously. Thank you," she said meaningfully. "What prompted you to cook breakfast?"

"Didn't sleep well last night. Was worrying that that gangster guy was going to break in here and kill me."

"I'm sorry…" Erin said, feeling bad for him. "But I didn't have bacon in my fridge this morning."

"That's because I woke up early and since you were still asleep, I walked down the street to the grocery store. You need to keep more food in your fridge."

"Well, I really appreciate it."

"I did it as a way to thank you for letting me crash with you," Jay admitted. "It makes me feel better that you're here and I'm not alone."

"Same here," Erin said, "Weird, huh?"

"Not really, since we're partners," Jay pointed out.

"_Work _partners," Erin corrected.

"Right," Jay replied, "Are you okay? You seem a little down."

"Before you start going off about my mood, I broke up with Kelly, okay? I'm still feeling upset about it."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring it all back," Jay defended himself.

"It's okay…I had a bad dream about it last night anyway," Erin confessed. "Which is why…why I need to get out for some fresh air." She put her finished plate next to the sink and looked in her pantry. "And since my pantry didn't seem to get magically restocked, I'm going to go out grocery shopping since we have today off."

Before Jay could ask if he could come, Erin read his mind. "No, you can't come. I don't want you walking around the streets with a 100 grand bounty on your head. No way."

"Please, Erin."

"Jay," Erin pleaded, "I don't have to tell you how dangerous this is. Just please trust me."

Jay sighed, knowing that he had been beaten. "Okay…but do I have permission to go through your DVR while you're gone?"

"Of course," Erin agreed, "My home is your home. For now."

"Thank you," Jay said.

As Jay put the dishes and utensils away while Erin was getting dressed, his eye caught on the tag board hanging under the kitchen cupboards. In the middle of the collage of photos, amidst photos ranging from her and Voight when she was probably a teen to photos of the team, was a photo of Erin and Jay in the intelligence office. Jay was sitting on Erin's desk, while she was sitting in her chair, and they were both laughing at some joke one of them had cracked. They both looked so naturally happy together in the photo, and it made Jay smile.

"See you in a bit," Erin said, breaking Jay out of his trance. She caught him looking at the photo of the two of them, and she smiled lightheartedly. "I can't remember for the life of me who took that photo."

"Me neither," Jay admitted, "But it's a great one."

"It is," Erin agreed, looking at Jay.

"Can I ask why you stuck this one in the middle? And not one of you and Voight or of the whole unit?"

Erin avoided the question by saying goodbye and heading out the door. As she got in her car, she scolded herself for not answering the question. But then she reminded herself that Jay might not want to know the true answer: that the photo of her and Jay was in the middle of her tag board because she had feelings for him.

***Two hours later***

Erin walked through the entrance of her apartment building, hands full with fresh groceries. She was already hungry for lunch, and secretly praying that Jay hadn't been afraid to use her coffee maker. She was feeling sleepy because she hadn't drunk coffee yet, and it was nearly 12:30 in the afternoon.

But what she didn't know was that she was being watched.

In an unmarked car half a block away, a young guy in a black hoodie was sitting next to an older dude with multiple tattoos and rings. He was wearing the gold cross necklace that identified him to everyone as the leader.

The leader who wanted Jay dead.

Jay had killed his best friend's brother, and since his brother was going to jail, he had agreed to do the job as a favor. So he had hired the young guy, who was sitting next to him in the car, to shoot Jay the night before. But the young guy alleged that Jay escaped unharmed because a woman with him had seen him first, and had had just enough time to push Jay out of harm's way.

"You're sure that's her? Because killing the wrong cop would not give me a good rep," the leader emphasized.

"Absolutely. I recognize the hair and that jacket. She was definitely there."

"And Jay's not at his apartment?"

"No, sir," the young guy confirmed. They had checked Jay's apartment earlier that morning, but to find no one there. They had been driving a few streets away from where they were now parked when the young guy had recognized Erin getting into her car. They had then followed her back to her apartment block.

And now they were plotting again.

"Alright, since he's not at his place and you say she was there last night," the leader thought out loud, "Then she must know where he is now."

"Exactly," the young guy agreed, "So should we break into her apartment tonight? Catch her off guard or something?"

"_You _will break in tonight," the leader corrected, "And if Jay is there, take him out."

"What if he isn't? What if it's just her?" the young guy asked cautiously, knowing that his leader had a temper.

"Then we'll make another plan," the leader declared. But as soon as he had finished talking, he thought about it some more. That woman would make good bait for Jay. Then they could kill Jay and break this woman at the same time.

"Now that you mention it," the leader continued, "If she's there tonight, take her to base. He'll come to find her, I'm sure of it. He'll fall into the trap."

"Roger that, boss."


	2. Gone

**Thank you so much to everyone for all of your kind reviews! I loved reading each and every one of them. This chapter is a little short, so sorry about that, but be assured that the few chapters following this are _much _longer!**

Chapter 2

Later that evening, Erin and Jay were sitting on her couch again, full after multiple slices of pizza and two bottles of beer apiece. The Blackhawks were winning the hockey game by 2 goals to 1, and the clock was running out. Ten seconds before the end of the game, one of Chicago's star forwards rammed the puck into the goal, giving the Blackhawks a 3-1 win. Jay stood up off the couch and cheered, and Erin laughed at him as she carried over the empty bottles and plates. Jay let the postgame show run on the TV as he helped clean up.

When they were done, Erin and Jay sat down on the couch again after Erin put in one of the Harry Potter DVDs and had plopped down next to him. "Thanks again, Erin, for letting me stay here."

"Like I said, don't mention it," Erin repeated, "And besides, I like having you here. It's nice to have company."

"I couldn't agree more," Jay said quietly as the opening credits began. They stopped talking and Jay was focused on the movie until ten minutes before the end when he realized that Erin had fallen asleep with her head on his chest. He smiled to himself, happy that he made Erin feel safe. He wondered if he'd ever be able to tell her how he really felt about her...that he might actually have feelings for her.

But Voight had told him that if he tried, he would be transferred. And Erin was so close to Voight that she wouldn't want to break his rules. So that was that.

As the music accompanying the end credits began to fill Jay's ears, he turned off the DVD player and the TV. Since he didn't want to move Erin, who looked very peaceful, he leaned back against the sofa and feel asleep himself.

***A few hours later***

Erin woke up to find herself on Jay's chest. At first she was shocked, but then she realized that she felt comfortable with him. As she tried to go back to sleep, she heard clinking on the other side of her front door. Immediately freaking out that someone was trying to break in, she stood up, grabbed and loaded her gun, and laid Jay down on the couch so he would be out of eyeshot of anyone who came through the door.

And to get to Jay, they'd have to go through her.

She pointed her gun straight at the door as it silently swung open and a young guy in a black hoodie, armed himself, entered the apartment. When they locked eyes, the young guy knew he had found who he was looking for, and Erin realized that he was the same guy from the bar the night before. Erin managed to back the young guy up out of her apartment and shut the door, but before she could shoot him he slammed her against the wall, his gun pinned against her temple. He threw her gun on the floor.

"Where's Detective Halstead?" he stated, almost at a whisper level.

"I'm not telling you a damn thing," Erin said through gritted teeth, which only earned her more pressure from the gun barrel against her head. After a few seconds, the guy lowered his gun only to come back with a black sack. Before Erin could lunge for her gun, the sack was thrown over her head and her hands tied. She was blind as she was forced away, her gun left lying on the floor outside her door.

***The next morning***

Jay woke to the bright sunlight shining through her mahogany curtains. As he came to, he realized he was lying down on the couch, not sitting up and leaning against the back. Confused, he stood up and headed for Erin's room, thinking that she might have gone to bed in the middle of the night.

But she was nowhere to be found.

As he frantically ran around calling her name, he noticed that her badge, wallet, keys, and phone were all still in the apartment. Only her gun was missing. It didn't make sense.

He opened the front door with too much ease and discovered that the door was unlocked. As he called Erin's name again while stepping into the hallway, his foot brushed against a hard, sturdy object. He looked down and immediately picked up the object. He knew exactly what it was when he saw the initials _EL _written in silver sharpie on the bottom of the handle.

It was Erin's gun.

After putting the safety on, he ran back inside the apartment, locked the door, and called Voight from his phone. Luckily, he was awake at 8am. "Voight," Voight said, his raspy voice filling Jay's left ear.

"Sarg, it's Jay," Jay said with panic and worry in his voice, "Erin's gone."

"What? What do you mean Erin's gone?"

"I'm at her apartment and all her things are still here. The door was unlocked when I woke up and her gun was on the hallway floor. She's gone."


	3. Bait

**Happy Friday! Here's the next installment - it's a little longer than the last one :) **

**Thank you so much for all the reviews and views - I love reading all of them! Keep it up!**

Chapter 3

Erin stumbled down the two flights of stairs that she was being forced to walk down while blind. She could tell that it was cold, and suspected that whoever was moving her around was taking her to a basement. Her hands were tied behind her back, and she had no gun. _I'm screwed, _she realized.

Seconds later, she was pushed into an open area as the sack was lifted off of her head. She stumbled and hit the floor, her hands still tied, as her eyes attempted to adjust to the small amount of light coming from the small window. Sunrise was only just beginning, from what she could tell.

As she managed to get up and examine her surroundings, she tossed her head a couple of times to get the hair out of her face. As she looked to her right and saw multiple bottles of water sitting on a small table, next to a metal bucket, she heard a grunt behind her. She looked to who had released her into the room, a different man from the one who had thrown the sack over her head. He pointed to the water, and she replied back silently by moving her fingers behind her back. After hesitating for a few seconds, the guy stepped forward and said, "Don't cause trouble." After he finished talking, he pulled out a small knife and cut the cloth tying Erin's wrists together. "You need to be somewhat healthy bait, right?" he said in a mocking tone, exiting the room and locking the door.

As Erin sat drinking a few sips of water, she realized what the guy had meant by her being bait. She had completely forgotten to think about what would happen if she sacrificed herself on Jay's behalf. He would freak out and come to find her; the gang would offer her in exchange for him; he would most likely pretend to agree and then an Intelligence ambush would ensue, which would be an attempt to get both Jay and Erin out, but it wouldn't necessarily be successful. She sat down next to the metal bucket on the far wall and put her head against the wall. It was cold, hard concrete, and she closed her eyes for a second as she said, "What the heck, Erin?" out loud.

_They'll find me. They'll find me. Jay will find me, _Erin attempted to reassure herself. But then, she began to worry about Jay. He would probably be scared out of his mind when he found her gun outside the front door. Erin then began to believe that she was an idiot for putting herself in danger like she had done, but a voice inside her was trying to soothe her. _You did it for Jay, _the voice said, _he would have done the same for you._

_ I sure hope so, _was Erin's next thought. Thoughts began to refill her mind about Jay. She had tried to be smart, but it appeared that she had fallen into their trap. They had wanted to take her and use her to draw Jay in. They had obviously figured out that she was a sure way of getting to him. _Oh Jay, _she silently prayed, _please rescue me, but don't lose your common sense._

As she put the one opened water bottle on the floor, the basement door opened again and a much taller man with many tattoos and a gold necklace strolled in with a creepy smile on his face. She tried not to show her fear, but it was visible to him anyway. He chuckled as he got closer to her, and just as Erin stood up to prepare for a fight he wrestled her and turned her around, so her chest was against the wall. He re-tied her hands, and pushed her around again to face him. His eyes were now inches from hers, and Erin was beginning to feel extremely scared.

"Scared now, honey? There's no need…if you tell me where Halstead is," he finally spoke.

Erin gritted her teeth and replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Liar," the leader replied, punching Erin in the ribs, causing her to cry out in pain, "My guy tells me that you were with Halstead at the bar two days ago when he tried to kill him. But you pushed Halstead out of the way before any damage could be done."

"Why wouldn't I have?" Erin replied on a whim. She received another blow to the ribs, as well as more pressure from the hand that was holding her hands behind her, pushing her closer into the wall. She whimpered in fear and pain, and said, "Two cops are allowed to be friends, right?"

"So you know him," the ring leader concluded.

"I didn't say that," Erin spat.

"Girl, you might want to just tell me where Halstead is right now. Because your only ticket out of this hellhole is telling me where he is so we can kill him. And when you do get out of here, it won't be alive," the ring leader threatened. He waited a few seconds to see if Erin would reply, and when she did, it wasn't what he wanted.

"I'm not going to tell you a thing," Erin declared. As she finished the last word of her sentence, the ring leader pushed her sideways, letting her fall to the floor and hitting her head in the process. He then pulled out a short tether and after attaching it to a small ring that Erin hadn't seen before, he attached the other end to the tie around Erin's wrists. He then proceeded to take all the bottles of water out with him. He exited the room, and just when Erin thought that she was in trouble, he stormed back in and leaned over her, his face inches from hers again.

"You listen to me, you can either talk, or you can go to hell." He kicked her in the ribs and stormed out, the door locking behind him as Erin began to cry.


	4. Emergency

**Happy Halloween everyone! Sorry that I made all of you wait an entire week - stuff has been crazy. I'll probably be uploading 1 (or maybe 2) chapters every week from now on until Thanksgiving...at which point I will have more time to write! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

Chapter 4

Voight couldn't believe what he was hearing as he listened to Halstead talk. "She's gone," he had said. Almost immediately, he told Halstead that he would be at Erin's place in ten minutes, and as he ran out to his car, he sent a quick group text to the rest of the team, which was now only Atwater, Antonio, Olinsky, and Ruzek.

_Emergency at Erin's place. Be there ASAP. 130 Brooklyn apt. 312. _

As he sped through downtown, breaking every possible traffic law while his lights and sirens were blaring, he radioed Platt at the precinct to see if Burgess and Roman were in yet.

"Yes, they're here," Platt replied. "What do you want, Voight?"

"Tell them to meet Intelligence at 130 Brooklyn, apartment 312. ASAP," Voight said quickly.

Platt perked up, realizing that this was a serious matter, and radioed back, "Roger that." Luckily, Burgess and Roman had just walked up to get keys for their patrol car. Before she handed Burgess the keys, she said, "You're with Intelligence today. Just got radioed by Voight that there's an emergency at 130 Brooklyn apt. 312. He wants you there ASAP."

Burgess took the keys and she said, "Thanks, Sarg. See you later. Come on Roman." Roman followed Burgess to their assigned patrol car, who was sprinting across the lot. When Burgess eventually pulled out onto the street, Roman asked, "What's with the jogging? Do you know where we're going?"

"Shut up, Roman, I'm trying to drive," Burgess snapped, "Sorry," she continued, recollecting herself, "We just need to get there ASAP because I know the address Voight gave us."

"What's so important about it?" Roman asked as Burgess made a sharp turn onto Houston, Brooklyn in the distance.

"It's Erin's address," Burgess stated, jerking the patrol car to a stop when they reached the building. Voight's car was already on scene, and as Ruzek and Antonio were pulling up, Olinsky and Atwater on their way in the door. Burgess was slightly confused because she didn't see one Intelligence car. Halstead's.

***Inside the apartment***

Halstead opened Erin's front door before Voight had finished banging on it. Voight stormed in and stopped when he saw Erin's gun, badge, and other belongings on the table. He saw a duffel bag in the living room and snapped, "Are you staying here or something? I thought I made the boundaries perfectly clear."

"No offense, Sarg, but Erin agreed to let me stay her for a while. My apartment got ransacked a couple of days before the bar shooting."

"Whatever," Voight said, dismissing Jay's comment. "I've radioed the team, so they should be here soon. What the heck happened?"

Jay hesitated. "I can tell you what I can, but I have no idea how Erin ended up disappearing and her gun outside the door."

"Just start from the beginning," Voight instructed.

"Okay…" Jay began, "So we were watching a movie and she fell asleep first. I was sitting against the back of the couch when I feel asleep. When I woke up, I was lying down on the couch and Erin was gone. I didn't hear a thing, but she might have pushed me so I wasn't visible from the front door."

As Voight listened intently, Jay continued, "The front door was unlocked when I woke up and Erin was nowhere to be seen. I'm sorry, but that's all I know."

"Okay," Voight said, as the entire Intelligence Unit stormed into the apartment at once, following by Burgess and Roman. "Great, you're all here," he announced.

When everyone was quiet, Voight gave directions. "Okay, so according to Jay, Erin disappeared sometime in the early hours of the morning. The front door was unlocked when he woke up, and he found Erin's gun outside in the hallway. All of her belongings are still here, so her departure wasn't planned. Now, Burgess and Roman: I want you on patrol. No one enters or leaves this building unchecked. Ruzek, Antonio, Atwater: See if there's any security footage for this building that might be useful. Olinsky: With me."

Jay sat back down on the couch in disbelief, shock, and worry as Voight and Olinsky stepped out onto Erin's balcony. They had a short conversation, following by Olinsky making a phone call, and then they both came back inside. They sat down next to and across from Jay, trying to get more information out of him. Just when Jay wanted to run away from all of their questions, Ruzek came running back in with a CPD computer. He placed it in front of Voight and Jay, and a dark image filled the screen. Halstead recognized the camera placement immediately – it was in the parking lot behind the building.

After about twenty seconds, a darkly dressed man came into view, forcibly moving a young woman into the bag of a dark blue van with blacked out windows. "That's Erin," Jay blurted out, "She was wearing those color clothes last night."

"Antonio and Atwater are working on tracking the license plate right now," Ruzek added. Voight nodded in approval, then nodded to Olinsky after Olinsky gave Voight some sort of signal. Jay, confused, looked to both of the older men for an explanation. But before he could turn around to see for himself, a pinch triggered the nerves in Jay's upper shoulder as a tiny needle entered his body. The needle was gone as quickly as it had entered his skin, and before Jay could do anything else, he began to see black spots and passed out.

**Thank you for reading! Please leave me a review - I love reading each and every one of them! :D**


	5. Security

**Hello awesome readers and reviewers! Happy Sunday! I'm happy to say that you'll find out more in this chapter about the cliffhanger at the end of chapter 4...this chapter is focused on Jay, but don't worry, the next chapter will have more about Erin.**

**As always, please leave a review - I love reading all of them and getting the email notifications in my inbox. :)**

Chapter 5

The first thing Jay smelt was the slightly contaminated Chicago air blowing through an open window. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking incessantly at the bright lights above him. The ceiling was like a printed version of an old Greek architectural design, and the walls of the hotel room were a light tan, with the exception of one, which was a dark navy. A few scenic pictures hung on the walls, and thin, transparent curtains hung in front of the windows. As Jay tried to sit up, he noticed that there was a decent flat screen TV, drawers, a Keurig coffee maker, a desk chair, and two large lamps at opposite ends of the room. There was also a second queen bed.

He was in a hotel room.

Suddenly feeling dizzy, Jay thumped his head back down on the pillow, causing Antonio to appear from the desk chair. He heaved a sigh of relief, and said, "Hey Halstead. How're you feeling?"

"Really dizzy," Jay said monotonously, "What the hell am I doing in a hotel room? And how the heck do I not remember getting here?"

"Do you remember a needle entering your shoulder?" Antonio asked.

"Yes," Jay responded as he tried to collect his hazy thoughts. "Before I could do anything, I blacked out. What are those?" He finished, pointing to the moving images on Antonio's computer.

"Oh," Antonio said, "Security cameras. These two are outside the hotel, this one's near the elevators on this floor, and this one is right outside the room."

"So what is this? A safe room in a hotel? If I order room service, one of their guys could dress the part and shoot me!" Jay yelled in panic.

"Halstead, just let me explain!"

"What the hell is happening? Why am I stuck here and not at the precinct looking for Erin? Answer me, Antonio! Please!" His voice faltered as he said Erin's name. He was already worried at what was still a reality, but he could draw a few conclusions before Antonio spoke.

"This is a safe room. The only people who know the exact location of this place, and by that I mean your exact location, are me, Olinsky, and Commander Perry. Even Voight doesn't know."

"Why?" Halstead interrupted.

"Let me finish," Antonio begged. When Halstead nodded, he continued. "Voight, Ruzek, and Atwater are working on tracking down Erin. Burgess and Roman are helping too. Voight's given me and Olinsky the task of keeping you safe. You've still got a bounty on your head. We figured that as long as you changed up your routines every now and again that you'd be fine, but after the bar shooting we started making arrangements for a safe house. That's where you are now.

"We were planning to move you while you were conscious and have you check in like a tourist in a few days, but after Erin disappeared, we decided to execute the plan differently. Since we knew that people would be watching the place, we got two paramedics in from 51 to knock you out and transport you into an ambulance like you had to go to the hospital. Olinsky followed close behind, while I was in the ambo with you.

"We noticed a couple of cars following us, but we got the ambo to speed off and we lost them as we neared the hospital. We traveled a few more blocks to the hotel, brought you in the back, and here you are."

Jay sat on the bed, stunned. The plan had been good – really good, in fact. It had been creative of Voight and Olinsky to make it look like Jay was sick to get him safely to a safe house. But there were still two questions lingering in his mind. "Why wasn't I filled in on the plan _before _I got knocked out with some drug?"

"We weren't planning to give you much notice to begin with. Good criminals have a way of distinguishing between when cops know they don't have a way out and when cops know they do have a way out. We didn't want you to give away that you had an impending escape. And, after the incident at Erin's place this morning, we decided that we had to get you out today."

"What about Erin?" Jay cut in. His fingers were trembling, a sign that he was close to breaking down. "Please, dude, I need to know where they are on rescuing her. She's my partner."

"You're sure you don't want her to be more than that?" Antonio asked with a smirk on his face. He saw a light in Jay's eyes when he was talking, but before he could say something else the light was gone; replaced with fear. He figured that since Jay was equally strong, he could wrestle Antonio into a near-choke position and get the information out of him. And, since he didn't want to have to lunge for the gun hidden in the top drawer, he sighed.

"Look, Jay, you're not allowed to make any phone calls after this, okay?"

"Fine, just tell me. Please," Jay begged.

"As you may remember, Ruzek got some intel on the car from the security tape. The team did some observational work this morning on the place and they're initiating a bust in the next hour."

"But what if someone saw them?" Jay asked, panicking that if these were good criminals, they would have seen one of the cops and decided to move. Which wouldn't do anyone any good.

"I know what you're thinking, Jay. But Voight told me that they were extra careful."

"What if they weren't careful enough? They could hurt Erin. Or worse!"

"Calm down, Halstead!" Antonio said, to no avail. Jay was fuming with anger and worry and fear all at the same time. Without thinking twice, he stood up and stopped in front of Jay, who was pacing up and down the hallway. "If you try to leave, I'll find out. So don't try. You'd be endangering everyone in the unit as well as yourself. Erin included. You hear me?"

Jay sighed, taking deep breaths, and nodded. "I hear you."

"Good," Antonio said matter-of-factly. He returned to the desk to pick up his phone and wallet. He pointed to the computer and said, "Each of these has a motion-activated signal that'll make the screen go red. That's why I'm leaving it here. During the night, you can press this button here and it will turn the motion signal into an audible alarm. That way, if you see danger coming your way," Antonio stopped, pulling the gun out of the drawer, "You can use your gun to fight for yourself. There are plenty of extra ammo rounds in the drawer here. And if you do see danger coming, this," he paused again, pulling a button out of the drawer and flicking a switch on the bottom, setting it on the table, "is a distress button. Press it, and it will send an immediate signal to my and Olinsky's phones. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks," Jay said, leaning up against the wall.

Antonio gave Jay a big pat on the back as he headed for the door. He hadn't wanted to leave this soon after Jay had woken up, but he could sense that the guy needed to offload his emotions alone. He just prayed that Jay didn't do anything stupid.

"Secure the door after I leave," Antonio ordered, "You'll get room service for meals at 8am, 1pm, and 6pm. It's 12 o'clock now, so lunch will be here in an hour. Take care Halstead. I'll be back for dinner at six just to see how you're doing."

"Thanks man. Bye," Jay said, locking and bolting the door after Antonio had left. As Jay watched Antonio wait for an elevator on the security camera in the room, Antonio silently prayed that Jay would find what he had left for him. Voight forbade Jay to have his phone in the safe room because the bad guys could track it, so Antonio had left a picture in the drawer.

A picture of Jay and Erin.

Back in the room, Jay's eyes stayed focused on the computer as he watching Antonio get into an elevator and walk out the back entrance to his car. Now wondering what to do with himself, he decided to examine the rounds of ammo that had been left with his gun. The gun was his own, thankfully, and the ammo in the drawer was the type he liked. But then he noticed something peeking out from under the ammo. He pushed the bullet packages aside, leaving the gun, safety on, on top of the counter. He pulled out a newly printed photo of him and Erin.

After the first case they cracked.

He still remembered that experience to this day. Erin had saved his ass from getting shot multiple times by shoving him behind a pile of manufacturing materials near the end of the bust. She had seen them coming when Jay couldn't. Antonio had begged to take a picture of the newly successful pair, and Erin had surprisingly obliged. She didn't know how amazing and beautiful she was to Jay. As he held the photo in his hands, he thought about how Erin had saved his ass again when the hoodie guy had started shooting inside the bar two days ago. He now owed her – it was his turn to save her ass.

But he couldn't. Instead, he was stuck in a safe room with enough camera monitoring to prevent him from leaving without detection. Erin was gone, most likely being held as bait for Jay.

But the target of the bait would never find Erin himself. Because he was stuck in a damn hotel room in order to keep him safe.

He sat down on the end of the bed closest to the door and put the photograph down next to him. He put his head in his hands and all his emotions began to pour of him in heaving breaths, sobs, and tears. He wished that he wasn't stuck in a damn hotel room with nothing to do. He wished that he could be helping find Erin. He wished that he didn't have a humongous bounty on his head.

And above all, he wished that he hadn't put the woman he loved in danger.


	6. Defenseless

**Happy Veterans Day y'all! Surprise! I updated early! Yay! Thanks for all of your lovely reviews, and I encourage everyone to continue writing them- they all make me smile!**

**As promised, this chapter contains more about Erin...please let me know what you think! I've got more chapters in the works, so the more amazing reviews I get, the faster I write! :D Thanks!**

Chapter 6

As the ring leader left the room where Erin was being held captive for the third time in however many hours since she had been a hostage, she grimaced in pain as she tried to sit up. She was definitely getting bruising on her face and her ribs. Her chest hurt every time she tried to breathe, which wasn't a good sign.

She tried to move her wrists but winced in pain at the attempt. The duct tape around her wrists was starting to cut into her pale skin, and she felt a small amount of blood trickle down her hand. She was no longer tied to the wall, but didn't have the strength to stand up or move around. She was defenseless.

They had been pressuring her for information about Jay's location, and they'd told her that it was her mistake not to talk. What she had really wanted to say was that it was her captor's mistake that they hadn't pushed past Erin into the apartment to find Jay fast asleep on the couch. Right now, more than ever, as her body was sending way too many pain messages to her brain, she wanted to be in Jay's safe arms. But if she hadn't done what she had, Jay might be dead. And if Jay was alive, then she could go through anything she had to in order for Jay to live. She loved him that much.

Not that she would never admit that to anyone, of course.

Just when she thought she had her breath back and her heart rate was returning to normal, the door of her prison swung open and the ring leader made a path straight for her, a small knife in his left hand. Erin instinctively pushed herself up against the wall, but the guy pulled her to her feet and slit her right wrist with the knife. He dropped the knife on the floor as Erin screamed in pain, more of her blood falling to the floor.

"Time to move," was all he said in his cunning, deep tone. Erin grimaced as he turned her around and led her in front of him up some stairs and to the back of a dark van. He opened the back door with one hand, and then pushed Erin into the back of the van. When he saw her grimacing at the pain all over her body, he took out another knife and put it to her neck.

"You scream at all, I'll have one of my guys put a bullet through your skull. You got it?"

Erin nodded silently in response, and after she was once again surrounded by darkness, she rolled onto her side and wanted to cry as she felt the van accelerate around a sharp turn and onto a road.

Only the tears wouldn't come.

***Two hours later***

Voight gathered his team in a circle a block away from the abandoned warehouse that Ruzek had chased the car to from the apartment building security camera. They had done some observation work that morning, which some younger members of the team disagreed with but Voight had insisted on, so they had done it. Voight wanted to know what they were dealing with.

Antonio arrived just as they were about the bang down the front door, and Voight handed him his favorite rifle and a bulletproof vest. Less than a minute later, Atwater banged down the door and all the Intelligence Team members (save Jay, who was stuck in a hotel room) sprinted into the warehouse scanning for weapons, toxins, and life. Voight saw a door ajar to his right, and after he cleared it, he sprinted down the stairs, a few dying light bulbs on the wall to his left. At the bottom of the stairs he turned into a concrete room.

And realized that they were too late.

He small amounts of blood near the far wall, as well as a small knife that had blood smeared on its tip. He radioed the whole team and spoke slowly as he took in the scene. "We're too late," was all he said.

Once everyone on the team heard this, Antonio radioed Voight as everyone lowered their weapons. "Sarg, where are you?" When no response came, the team started to come together as a group. "Sarg?" Antonio asked again. As they began to exchange worried looks, Antonio's radio clicked on.

"In the basement. First door on the right from where we came in."

Antonio sprinted for the door Voight had described and told everyone to call their respective CI's outside to see if anyone had any info what had happened. The car that Ruzek had tracked was sitting unoccupied inside the warehouse, which didn't help them at all. There were no street cams outside either, which didn't help anything.

When Antonio stepped into the basement and the saw the blood and knife, his first thought was to cuss. Erin had clearly been here, but she wasn't anymore. Voight's observation work must have given them up. Jay had been right.

Voight was sitting up against the left wall, his gun in his lap. He was staring at the ceiling until he saw Antonio, and then said, "I was stupid, Antonio. If I hadn't insisted on that observation work-"

Antonio cut him off. "Sarg. Don't beat yourself up. You were doing what you thought was right. We'll find her."

"I sure hope so," Voight replied, coming slowly to his feet, "She was about the best thing that ever happened to me."

Antonio sighed, putting his hand on Voight's shoulder. "I've got the team reaching out to see if anyone saw anything."

"And the car?"

"Upstairs. Empty."

Voight swore under his breath. "I know you have to go check in on Halstead again tonight. Don't tell him that the bust failed. You hear?"

"Loud and clear," Antonio replied, letting out a small chuckle. "Sorry – I was just laughing because I didn't mean to make that sound like a rhyme."

Voight chuckled in response and said, "I don't mind a little laugh, Antonio. Now let's get back to work and dig up anything we can find on these guys. The sooner we find Erin, the soon I can let you guys have a day or two off and the sooner I can get some rest."


	7. Lacey

**Happy (Almost) Friday! I hope that y'all enjoy this update! I'm please to foreshadow that the story takes a more hopeful turn in this chapter...please feel free to leave a review! Each one makes me happy that someone loves my story.**

**I really enjoyed #CrossoverWeek this week (although parts of SVU creeped me out a little) and I can't wait for Chicago Fire and Chicago PD next week! Both shows look like they're going to have really great episodes next week. :)**

Chapter 7

After a boiling hot shower that had most likely burned the skin on his feet, Jay felt more emotionally stable.

Since Antonio had brought his duffel of clothes from Erin's apartment, he had decided to freshen up and change. He would have gone to the gym, but that would've been breaking the rules. It had only been three hours and he was already bored and sick of this situation. He just wanted to home and safe with Erin by his side. He had hoped that he and Erin might have a future together, but now he wasn't sure if that would become a reality. If it ever would.

After rubbing his wet hair with a towel, he put on a pair of jeans and a touristy Chicago Blackhawks crewneck. Unable to do something as simple as checking Facebook, he turned on the flat screen TV and started scrolling through channels. He eventually settled for reruns of cooking shows on Food Network, and after a couple of hours dragged by one of the camera screens on the computer went red.

Seeing it out of the corner of his eye, he muted the TV and walked over to further examine the computer screen. Turns out, Antonio had triggered the motion sensor on camera number 3 by exiting the elevator on the floor that Jay's room was on. Jay proceeded to turn the TV fully off and lean against the wall next to the door, awaiting Antonio's arrival. Antonio almost walked into Jay after opening the door. "Jesus, man! You couldn't give me more room?"

"I saw you on the security camera. I knew you were coming," Jay replied. After Antonio closed the door, Jay went back and sat back down on the bed closest to the door. "How'd the bust go?" Jay asked eagerly. He hoped that Antonio had good news, but judging by his buddy's hesitation and facial expression, it wasn't too optimistic.

Antonio sighed as he silently sat down in the desk chair. He could feel Jay's eyes staring into his head, waiting anxiously for an answer, but he was debating about whether to be honest with Jay or to stick to his agreement with Voight. After a few seconds of deep thought, he decided that since Voight wasn't involved in the "keeping Jay safe" department at the moment, it would be okay to tell Jay the truth.

Even though he'd run the risk of Jay having another emotional breakdown and getting a lecture from Voight later.

He sighed, made eye contact with Jay again, and said, "Bust failed. By the time we made entry, the car Ruzek tracked was abandoned." Jay was already showing signs of freaking out, but he continued anyway. "Voight found a knife and some blood in the basement of the building. We think its Erin's."

"Oh my God, oh my God," Jay said quietly to himself. He felt like his head was going to explode because he had so many fearful thoughts flying through his head. He felt tears coming to his eyes again, but before he could push them away, Antonio saw them. He sat down next to Jay on the bed, put his arm on Jay's shoulder, and said, "Look, man, I know this is hard. It's hard on all of us. Voight is freaking out too. Trust me, you're not alone."

"But I feel alone," Jay confessed, "I'm stuck here in a hotel room not being able to do anything to help her. She's saved my life countless times and now when it's my turn to save hers, I can't!"

***Back at the precinct***

Platt was entering some arrest record info into her computer when a young woman dressed in casual work clothes entered the lobby. She looked around as if she wasn't sure where she was going, and Platt snapped, "Can I help you?"

The woman made eye contact with Platt, and after she recovered from the surprise that had overwhelmed her when Platt had spoken, she walked towards the desk. "Maybe," she replied. To Platt, she seemed nervous that she was in a police station, but she didn't appear to be on drugs, and none of the recent Intelligence cases had female suspects.

"Does Nadia work here? I heard she started working in Intelligence?" the woman asked.

"She does," Platt replied, "What's your name? Does Nadia know you?"

"Yes, we worked together in our old job, if you know what I mean. My name's Lacey."

Platt nodded as she reached for the phone. "But you're doing better now?"

"Yeah, thanks, I'm working in hospitality."

"That's great," Platt said to Lacey as Nadia picked up the phone upstairs.

"Sargent Platt," Nadia said.

"Nadia, you've got a visitor in the lobby," Platt said, hanging up the phone as she finished talking. She told Lacey that she could wait on the bench next to the stairs, and Lacey responded, "Thank you, Sargent," in a polite tone.

Slightly confused by Platt's short message, Nadia waved to Lindsay and made her way down the stairs. After going through the security door, Platt made eye contact with her and pointed to the bench to Nadia's left. Nadia almost gasped at who she saw sitting there. She hadn't seen her since before she got clean. "Lacey?"

"Nadia," Lacey said, standing up and giving Nadia a hug. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

"I'm good, thanks," Lacey replied, "I heard you were working in Intelligence now, and I don't know if this is your department's business, but I saw something go down on the north side of town this morning."

Nadia cut Lacey off, saying, "Come upstairs. It'd be better to talk in private if you have any more info." Nadia led Lacey upstairs to Intelligence and into the break room. Once Lacey had sat down, Voight blocked Nadia from closing the door, "Who's this?"

"An old friend," Nadia replied in a whisper, "She said that she saw something go down on the north side this morning. If it's anything to do with our bust gone wrong, I figured we could use it."

"And if not?"

"Then it's on me, Sarg."

"Alright, Nadia. See what you can do," Voight replied, quietly shutting the door. Nadia poured Lacey some coffee and asked her how she was doing. "I'm working in hospitality now. Got clean a few months ago."

"That's great," Nadia said, smiling. "It's been a really long time."

"Yeah, it has," Lacey replied. She looked down at the table, and then back up to Nadia. "One of the cops from here is missing, right? I saw it on the news?"

Nadia nodded in response, and Lacey continued. "Well, I was visiting my aunt this morning up north and she lives a block away from a big abandoned warehouse. Less than an hour after some guys walked around nearby and left, a big black van came roaring out of one of the doors. It had what looked like a rental car tag. I saw the plate number, so I wrote it down because that didn't look normal." Lacey reached into her bag and pulled out a crumple piece of paper with 239XJFR written on it.

Nadia looked at the paper and asked, "Where does your aunt live?"

"Carson and 11th. A block away from 11th and Racine."

"And you're sure this was the plate number?"

"Yes."

"Did you see the name of the rental company on the tag?"

"Only colors," Lacey confessed. "It was yellow and black, and looked like it had a few letters in the middle."

"Okay," Nadia said, reaching for a pen and writing _yellow and black rental tag _on the paper. She looked up at Lacey and replied, "Would you be willing to tell my boss what you just said? Because if you're correct, this might help. A lot."

"Yes, of course," Lacey replied. "Anything I can do. I saw her picture on the news. She was the one who got you out, wasn't she?"

"Yeah," Nadia replied, "She saved me. Which is why I really appreciate this."

"Hey, girl, you got me into that clinic. It's time I returned the favor."

***Twenty minutes later***

Voight looked at the info that Ruzek and Atwater had pulled up based on the plate and rental tag info, and were in Voight's office with Nadia and Lacey. Ruzek turned the computer screen around.

"There's only one rental car company with the colors yellow and black. Hertz," he said, flipping to the next window. "Atwater just called them and they do have a black van in their system that matches our plate and spec info. Turns out it's got GPS. Olinsky is programming one of our devices now so we can track it."

"Okay, we're rolling out as soon as Olinsky has that tracking device ready," Voight ordered. Atwater and Ruzek left the room, and Voight stopped Lacey, who was in front of Nadia. "Thank you, Lacey. If this works out, you'll have made me a very happy cop."

"Happy to hear," Lacey said, smiling. He let Lacey out and gave Nadia a high five on her way out. Ruzek saw and gave Nadia a thumbs up, causing Nadia to smile. She told Lacey that she could stay at the station with her until they knew what happened, so they sat down in the break room again with a snack.

After putting on his bulletproof vest, Voight dialed Antonio, who was most likely at the safe house with Jay. "Detective Dawson," Antonio said, most likely not wanting to draw attention from Jay if he said Voight's name.

"We've got a new lead," Voight replied, "One of Nadia's friends from her past life might have seen the van that moved Erin this morning. Turns out it's a rental and has GPS. We're rolling out now with a tracker. We're sending over the info. Can you meet us there?"

"Sure thing," Antonio replied, Jay giving him suspicious looks. "I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up and Jay immediately asked, "What now?"

Antonio sighed. "New lead."

"On Erin?"

"Yes. I've got to go. And no, I'm not telling you anymore."

"Antonio please," Jay begged, "Just promise you'll tell me what happens?"

"Fine," Antonio conceded, "I'll be back for breakfast."

"Okay," Jay said. After Antonio left the room, he silently prayed that this new lead actually worked. That Erin would be safe. That he could get out of here.

That he could be with her.


	8. Distraught

**Happy Thanksgiving Week everyone! Here is the next chapter - please let me know what you think! :D**

Chapter 8

"You seriously don't have anything else to tell me?"

"No. I told you that before," Erin said through gritted teeth. The ring leader had her in a tight hold around her throat, causing her to half choke but not fully suffocate. She still wasn't giving in, despite the pain her lungs were currently in. There was no way that she was going to give Jay up. No damn way.

The ring leader moved forward, pressing Erin between him and wall, with her head against the concrete. She sighed, trying to catch another breath, but he tightened his grip. "Come on, you must know something."

"You really want me to be bait. Try not to kill me first," Erin snapped. As soon as she had said it, she knew that she had gone too far. Before she knew it, his grip on her throat tightened a little more as he stabbed her left thigh with another knife. She screamed in pain, but she couldn't scream at her full volume because she couldn't breathe to full capacity.

As tears came to Erin's eyes, the ring leader got more serious. Luckily for Erin, he had tossed the knife across the room so she couldn't use it against him. "Look, lady, suffering bait is more convincing than safe bait. The more danger you're in, the more likely your boy will come looking for you. And you're a cop, so I don't want to kill you just yet. If I kill you in front of him, then I can kill him afterwards. Two birds in one stone, wouldn't you say?"

Erin tried to move or get the guy to lessen his grip, but he wouldn't budge. She closed her eyes for a split second as she tried to assure herself that she wouldn't die like this. Unfortunately, she was now in full out panic mode and was worried that she might actually die.

Just when Erin was worried that this dude was going to pull out another knife and slit her throat, the door behind them opened and one of the younger guys asked the leader to come out.

"Can't you see that I'm busy here?" the leader snapped.

"Dude, they're here," the young guy said in a hushed tone, trying not to let Erin hear it. But she had, and she was now filling herself with hope that this would all be over soon. But would her unit's arrival make them kill her now? She didn't want that.

The ring leader pulled a bandana from the side of the room and tied Erin's hands behind her back after releasing her from the choke hold. She gasped for breath as she was shoved through a few big areas of another warehouse, grimacing in pain at the open wound in her thigh. When she looked down a little, she realized she was losing a lot of blood. _Great. Another problem, _she said to herself.

A few guys led her to a well-lighted area with a chair in the middle of the room. They shoved her into the chair, tied her to it, and gagged her. As she heard clanging and shouting from another part of the warehouse, the dozen or so younger guys ran off in different directions with guns. The ring leader stayed with Erin, taking out a shiny silver gun, taking the safety off, and pressed it to the side of Erin's skull. Erin was now more frightened than she had ever been in her entire life.

***From outside the warehouse***

The Intelligence Unit didn't waste any time initiating the bust since Antonio had beaten them to the scene. These criminals had been smart enough to move their bait, but not smart enough to use a car that wasn't a rental with GPS. As was generally the case, Voight was thankful for mistakes made by criminals – this one in particular. They broke down two sets of doors and stormed in with firearms and tazers. They had already called for patrol backup, and everyone tazered every gang member they came upon, shooting them if they had to. Eventually, they had a dozen or so young men unconscious throughout one region of the warehouse. Ruzek and Olinsky headed for the far side, Antonio headed for the back with Atwater, and Voight headed for the front middle area.

And what he found made his heart break.

As he rounded the corner, he found a terrified-looking Erin tied and gagged to a chair with a gun pinned to her head. The guy holding the gun must have been the friend of the guy whose brother Halstead had killed. "One step further and she dies," he spat.

"Now, now, we can work this out. You and me," Voight attempted.

"No way. Not unless you have Halstead," the leader replied, focusing on Voight as he pressed the gun harder against Erin's head. She whimpered as she saw Voight trying to negotiate. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell him that he probably wouldn't succeed.

"Let her go, dude. She's not who you want," Voight said. But his words weren't working.

"Like I said," the leader snapped, "If you have Halstead, we can make a deal. I need my payday."

"Well at this point, it doesn't look too good for you, does it?" Voight pointed out. He didn't know that at this point Ruzek, Atwater, Olinsky, and Antonio had surrounded the ring leader and Erin in a semicircle in the darkness, trying to get a shot at the leader's head. Antonio took a few more steps to his right and realized that he had one, but he didn't want to risk missing and hitting Erin or Voight.

But then he realized that they would both want him to take the shot, so he did.

The "pow" echoed in the hollow warehouse as the leader fell to the ground with a gunshot wound to the side of his head. As soon as Voight kicked the gun out of the guy's hand, Antonio jumped out and called for an ambulance and ordered the others to start rounding up the tazered gang members. The leader was dead – no need to move him.

As patrol helped the rest of Intelligence round up the gang members and send for the coroner, Voight quickly freed Erin from the chair and put a tourniquet on her leg. As soon as her hands were free, she fell into Voight's arms and sobbed with relief – relief that she was free, but that Jay was too.

After about ten minutes of Voight comforting a distraught Erin, Brett and Mills arrived and took Erin to the ambulance. Once Voight was told that they were taking her to Lakeshore, he hopped into his own car and sped off behind them into the night, sirens and lights blaring.


	9. Love

**Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I hope you all have a great day and enjoy this next chapter - it's a little long but has a lot of the stuff that I know some of you have been waiting for. :D **

**Please drop a review - I will post the next chapter when I receive 8 reviews. :)**

Chapter 9

Halstead was only just starting to doze off at 2am when multiple loud knocks sounded on the hotel room door. He got up, now slightly groggy, and looked at the computer screen. He had forgotten to turn the audio alarm off, but once he realized that Antonio and Olinsky were on the other side of the door, he speed walked to the door and thrust it open.

"A bit early, isn't it?" Jay complained slightly.

"Not in the situation we're in," Olinsky stated, pushing past Halstead and walking into the hotel room. Antonio followed as Olinsky said, "Pack your things. You're hereby released from protective custody."

"What?" Jay said in disbelief. He was free in under a day, even though it had lasted an eternity. His mind suddenly began to wake up. "Erin? Did you find her?"

"We did," Antonio said. Jay almost started crying with relief, but he didn't want to look like a cry-baby in front of the guy who brought him into Intelligence and the BFF of the chief of Intelligence.

"Is she alive? Is she okay?" Jay asked.

As Olinsky packed up the tech equipment, Antonio replied, "She's a little beaten up, but she'll be okay. She's at Lakeshore right now."

"Can I see her?" Jay asked. When both of his coworkers hesitated, he continued, "Please, guys, please. I'm begging you. Take me to see her, or I'll take your car and drive myself."

Olinsky and Antonio looked at each other and Olinsky replied, "Well, me driving in a controlled manner would be safer than you, since you would probably drive in an uncontrolled manner under the circumstances. Fine. Get your stuff so we can roll out in five." Olinsky left the room and Jay grabbed Antonio's shoulder. "Thank you," Jay said, his words speaking multiple meanings.

"No problem, man. Now let's get going. Olinsky hasn't had caffeine in a few hours and he's getting crabbier by the minute."

Ten minutes later, Jay was sitting in the back seat of Olinsky and Ruzek's car as the three of them drove towards Lakeshore. When they were about two minutes away, Antonio gave Jay his phone back. "Think you might want this back," Antonio said chuckling.

"Thanks," Jay said, pulling up his lock screen. The top text had just been sent from Antonio. _Room 311, _it read.

Jay texted back to Antonio a _thank you _as they pulled up outside Lakeshore. No soon had Olinsky stopped the car did Jay jump out the back and sprint for the elevators.

***In the hospital room***

Erin woke up to the sounds of heart-rate monitors and really bad pain in her ribs. Along with a painful headache. For a few seconds she wondered if she was dreaming.

Until she saw Voight sitting on her right, holding her bandaged hand. "Hey there," he said emotionally.

"Hey," she replied. "Is this really happening?"

"Yes," Voight said assertively. "You're gonna be okay."

"Where's Jay? Is he okay?" Erin said, suddenly feeling as if she needed to know in that very instant.

"He's okay. We kept him alive. And all those guys we caught are going away for a very long time. Judges generally aren't kind to those who disrespect cops."

Erin laughed lightly and began to cry. Voight sat on the edge of the bed as she cried for a solid five minutes. He could only imagine the range of emotions she was feeling in this moment. He was only feeling one emotion right now: relief that his girl was okay.

After Erin was calm again and requested stronger painkillers, Voight looked at his phone. He read a new text from Antonio. _Jay incoming. T minus 4 mins max._

Voight texted back, _K, _and told Erin, "I'm going to get coffee. I'll be back in a little while, okay?"

"Okay," Erin said, feeling much more tired all of a sudden. But despite all her pain, she desperately wanted to see Jay. Only she had no idea where he was.

Until he sprinted into her hospital room and almost ran into her bed.

He had hit the brakes a little too late, stopping just inches from the foot of Erin's hospital bed. When he looked at her, he couldn't believe it.

She looked really beaten up with bruises over her face and neck. Both of her wrists were bandaged, and two IVs were in her left arm. One was a hydration fluid, the other was most likely painkillers. "Erin?" he asked, his voice cracking as tears filled his eyes.

When Erin saw Jay alive and well she suddenly felt like she could cry her heart out again. "Jay!" she squealed as loud as she could with her current state of dehydration. She opened up her arms and Jay sat down on the side of the bed and embraced her as tightly as he could without hurting her. They both cried of joy and relief, and secretly, love. Jay knew know that he never wanted to put her in danger again.

He pulled back after a few minutes and said, "Erin, I'm so, so sorry that I put you in danger. Why did you do that for me?"

"Don't apologize, I created this for myself," Erin said, part of her avoiding the original question.

"Erin?" Jay said, more persistently.

Erin sighed, squeezed Jay's hand, and replied, "I just couldn't bear to lose you, okay? If you were dead I don't know what I'd do without you. I never want another partner because I have you."

Jay chuckled and said, "Me neither." This made Erin smile, although her smile shrunk as Voight arrived behind Jay. "Sarg," Jay said in quick greeting.

"Halstead, maybe it's time you go home and let Erin rest," Voight said bluntly.

"No," Erin snapped.

Both Voight and Jay looked at Erin. "What?" Voight asked, confused.

"Jay stays," Erin insisted, "Go home and rest. You've spent the past day hunting for me, Voight. Please. I promise I'll be okay. If anything happens, Jay can call you."

Both Voight and Jay remained speechless for a few seconds until Voight picked up his coat and said, "Okay. I'll stop by in the morning."

"K," Erin said, squeezing Voight's hand before he left the room, closing the door behind him. He didn't really want to do what he was doing since he didn't tolerate in-house romance, but if Halstead's company was what his girl wanted right now, then he felt like he had to oblige – she had given herself up to save Jay's life, after all.

***Four hours later***

After Erin and Jay had spent another hour or so talking and telling each other how happy they were that the other was okay, Erin had fallen asleep again due to a combo of exhaustion and pain meds with a side effect of drowsiness.

That had been two hours ago.

Erin had allowed Jay to lie next to her on her hospital bed so she could lie next to his warm body. She said that his warm embrace was still calming, and after he fell asleep Jay stayed awake, lightly stroking her air and looking out at the vague Chicago skyline. It was the morning again, and soon the streets would be bustling with life once again.

But the Intelligence unit would not.

Voight had sent out a group text soon after leaving the hospital. _Goodnight. Good work y'all. Take the next three days off and I'll see u then. _Jay had been nothing short of relieved when he'd read that because that meant that he could spent as much time Erin as he wanted. And that time was very overdue.

As the sun began to peek over the horizon, Jay's phone rang in his pocket. He picked it up quickly without looking at the caller ID in order to not wake Erin. "Hello?" he said quietly.

"Dude, its Antonio. Don't you have me in your contacts?"

"Sorry, man, I didn't want to wake Erin. She's asleep again."

"Understood. How you're feeling? It's nearly 7am."

"I'm doing good. I'm just so relieved right now, man."

"Relieved that you're out of protective custody or that Erin's okay?"

"Both," Jay replied instantly. Unbeknownst to Jay, Erin had woken up when his phone rang, but she had pretended that she was still asleep by not moving from her position. Since her face was turned away from Jay, she smiled as she heard Jay's response to Antonio's question. His head and phone were so close to hers that she could hear every word of the conversation.

"That's what I thought," she heard Antonio say in a tone that was most likely accompanied by an Antonio-style smirk.

"What?" Jay asked.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Antonio asked cautiously.

"I don't just care about her, man. I love her. And I never want to put her in danger again," Jay replied as he looked at Erin's beautiful body. As Jay and Antonio's conversation continued for a couple more minutes and then finished up, it took all of Erin's self-control not to whirl around and kiss Jay right then and there.

Because she loved him too.


	10. Together

**Happy December everyone! Thank you SO MUCH for all of your lovely reviews - I love reading them all!**

**Sorry that I haven't updated in a while - I had a blast writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy it. :D**

Chapter 10

As Jay helped Erin pack some of her things into a duffel bag, which was sitting on her bed, she said, "Thanks for this. I just don't want to stay here right now."

"You don't have to explain. At least I got mine fixed up after the break-in," Jay replied, chuckling.

"You've got food and beer, right? Cause I'm dying for some alcohol."

"Do you want to go to Molly's tonight? I know people would love to see you," Jay replied pausing to stretch his back.

"I don't feel like it, Jay. I just want to rest and spend time with you, okay? I only just got out of the hospital a couple of hours ago."

"My bad," Jay said, surrendering, "How much more do you want to pack?"

"Just a couple more things," Erin replied as she stuffed another sweatshirt into the bag. She hadn't given Jay much eye contact since they'd left the hospital, and she'd seemed slightly more removed since she'd gotten some sleep that first night in the hospital. He knew that she'd been through a lot for him, so he wasn't going to press it.

Even though he hated her being distant.

"Can I use your bathroom?" Jay asked.

"Sure," Erin said in an _obviously _tone. "I'll be waiting in the living room."

"Okay," Jay replied as he shut the door. Erin zipped up her duffel and dumped it next to her purse in the kitchen. She felt more secure now that she had her badge, gun, phone, wallet, and keys back, and double-checked to make sure that they were all in her bag. Jay was going to drive her over tonight and they had agreed to get her car in a few days when she was feeling better…and not on two pain meds that made her slightly drowsy.

After checking her watch and gasping at the increasing pain in her ribs, she popped out her painkillers and took half-a-pill of each one. She couldn't remember at that moment how long her doctor had said that they would take to kick in, but she was silently hoping that they would kick in soon. Jay then walked into the kitchen, grabbed his keys and said, "Ready?"

"Ready," Erin echoed, grabbing her purse as Jay picked up her duffel. She made a pouty face at him, and he replied, "You just got out of the hospital and you're on painkillers. Let me help you out."

"Fine, but only if you agree to be more of a gentleman about it," Erin smirked, heading for the door. Jay chuckled as he followed her out of the building and to his car. Once they were on the way, Erin's mind started to whir about Jay.

He had most likely observed that she had been distant since that first night in the hospital, and she wondered if he had figured out why. Part of her mind was telling her that she should go for it and tell Jay that she heard him say that he loved her, but another part of her, the part that was making her distant, was afraid of what Jay would say and she didn't want to jump into anything.

Jay respected the silence and turned up the radio until they had reached his place and proceeded to lead the way into his apartment. Once Erin had settled herself on the left side of the couch, Jay spoke from the kitchen. "Beer?"

"Are you kidding?" Erin said, her head whirling around. "Hand it over."

Jay chuckled as he handed an open beer to Erin with his left hand, his own beer in the right. He sat down next to her after pulling out some pizza, and Jay initiated a toast. As their beers bottles clinked together, he said, "Congrats on getting out of the hospital, and thank you for putting your life on the line for me."

"Sorry for giving you a heart attack," Erin replied after taking a sip. Jay chuckled in response, and he seemed calm, so Erin decided to just go for it. "Jay?"

"Yeah?" Jay asked, putting his beer on the table.

"Remember the first night in the hospital when I feel asleep?"

"Yeah, you were, um…out for a while," Jay stuttered, fearing what was about to happen.

"Not as long as you might think," Erin confessed.

"What do you mean?"

"I woke up when Antonio called you at like 6 am or something. I heard you say…I heard you say that…"

"Say what, Erin?"

"That you loved me," Erin said slowly. Jay was clearly surprised, and she asked, "Is what you said true? Do you love me?"

Jay didn't respond for a little while, which was beginning to scare Erin. But just when she feared the worst, he replied, "Yes. I do love you. I have ever since the day we met."

Erin felt like she needed to cry, but instead, she leaned over and kissed Jay. He appeared surprised at first, but the kiss grew more and more passionate as it continued. After a little while, Jay pulled Erin top of him without breaking the kiss. He was about to put his hands under the back of her shirt when Erin pulled back and gasped, clinching her chest.

"Sorry, my ribs suddenly hurt like hell," Erin said, breathing directly on Jay's neck.

"Don't mention it," Jay said, tilting Erin's face up to his with his right hand, "Can you take painkillers tonight?"

"I already took tonight's painkillers. Dammit," Erin said, trying to take deep breaths amidst the pain.

"Then they should kick in eventually, right?" Jay asked with a smirk, eyeing Erin's lips.

"I guess," Erin said, smirking back before kissing Jay again. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands found her upper back. After a few more very romantic minutes, Erin pulled away to let her ribs and lungs recover. She asked, "Jay, I don't want to go back to my place anymore."

"Okay," Jay replied slowly, "Do you want to move in here?"

"I want us to get our own place. Together," Erin said, her tongue flying around her mouth in nervousness at Jay's reply. But he quickly smiled and said, "I love that idea. Let's do it."

"Really? Even with Voight still as our boss?" Erin said cautiously.

"Even with Voight as our boss," Jay echoed in approval. He sensed that Erin wanted to relax, so he offered, "How about a movie?"

"Sounds great," Erin said, giving Jay a quick kiss before he stood up and went to find his TV control in the kitchen. In typical Jay style, Erin found it under one of his couch pillows five minutes later.

***Two hours later***

After consuming an entire pepperoni pizza between them plus a few beers, Erin was lying in Jay's lap as they finished watching _Runaway Bride. _Jay hadn't wanted to watch it, but Erin managed to convince him that he should give in because she just got out of the hospital after saving his ass. So, he gave in and Erin won just another of their frequent battles of will. Jay realized that Erin had fallen asleep as the final wedding scene began, so after he watched the last five minutes he turned off the TV and gently rubbed her back as he looked out at the dark Chicago sky.

***Three hours later***

_Erin woke up on a couch in Jay's lap. Thinking that this situation was weird, Erin tried to compose herself when she heard small picking noises on the other side of the front door._

_ She and Jay were on her living room couch._

_ Again._

_ Instinctively, she grabbed her gun from the table, pushed Jay over so he was lying on the couch instead of leaning on the back of it, and loaded her gun with ammo as the front door opened._

_ The young guy's menacing face rounded the corner after the gun of his barrel did, and instead of listening to Erin's threats to make him back out of the apartment, Erin heard rustling from behind her and the guy pushed her over as he fired at Jay. She heard three pops before the guy sprinted out the door, and by the time she got to Jay he was dead. She gripped his face and did CPR and tried to revive him, but nothing worked. She was beginning to scream and cry when she was suddenly pulled away._

"Erin! Erin! Erin!" Jay said firmly, rubbing Erin's shaking body. He had been woken up by her screams, and she didn't resist his hold until she was fully awake and made eye contact with him. She immediately began to cry into his chest and Jay held her tightly as he asked, "Erin, what happened? Erin?"

Between sobs, Erin replied, "I was in my apartment again. The same guy came through the door, only you woke up and he saw you and he killed you right in front of me."

"Its okay, Erin, it was just a dream. Just a dream," he reassured her, gently rubbing her back again. He internally said cuss words to himself for falling asleep and forgetting that Erin might have a nightmare from what had happened a few days before.

"Pinch me," Erin ordered, sitting up with teary eyes.

"What?"

"Just so I can assure myself that I'm not dreaming right now."

"Okay," Jay agreed, pinching Erin's wrist. She winced at the small amount of pain that came from the pinch, but proceeded to hug Jay again and say, "Thank God."

"You're okay, you're okay," Jay said, "Maybe we should move off the couch?"

"Please," Erin said, happy to oblige. After she used the bathroom, she saw Jay heading back to the couch. "What?" he asked.

"Come with me. Please," Erin begged. Especially after the nightmare, she wanted him close to her in case it happened again. He smiled and snuggled up next to her under the sheets.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too," she replied softly, her eyelids already feeling heavy.


	11. Scrabble

**Hello fabulous readers! I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in nine-ten days...as I'm sure some of you can relate, life has been hectic since I last updated. That being said, with the holidays almost here, lots of writing time is approaching! Yay!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter - this is probably one of my favorites that I've written so far. Please leave a review! :D**

Chapter 11

***One week later***

Jay unlocked the front door of his apartment with his right hand, his left hand full with groceries and dinner for tonight. He wasn't in the best mood because Voight had been on everybody's ass about the current case they were working on and nothing had turned up in the last day. Voight had told Jay three times to call his CIs when Jay already had. He just hadn't heard from any of them yet.

"Jay!" Erin yelled from the living room. She walked over from the couch and gave her a hug, and it was all Jay could do not to chuckle at what Erin was watching. "Top Model? Really?"

"Shut up, I've been bored all day, like I've been for the past week. Not being able to work is driving me crazy when my ribs aren't."

"You know there's nothing I can do about that, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm just so happy to see you," Erin said, planting a kiss on Jay's lips, causing Jay to smile and kiss her for a few seconds more. Erin then pulled away and said, "What's in that bag that smells so good? I'm starving."

"Since the last week has been a little rough for both of us," Jay began, setting the bags on the floor in the kitchen and pulling out some white takeout boxes, "I got some of your favorite Chinese food."

Erin gasped with delight and gave Jay a hug. "Thank you!" she squealed into his shirt. She immediately grabbed two plates and enough silverware for them to serve up and eat the food. As they were sitting on the couch finishing up their food, Erin put her plate on the table and said, "I went to the doctor today."

"Did everything go okay?" Jay asked, concerned.

"Yeah, he said everything is looking good. I just have to pass a psychiatric evaluation next week and then I'll be cleared to go back to work."

"That's great. I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors."

"I hope so," Erin replied, "I'm getting bored out of my mind not being able to work."

"Think of it as a staycation," Jay offered, putting his hands in her hair.

"It isn't a staycation when I'm not choosing to be here," Erin snapped.

"Okay," Jay said, "How about we play a game? Risk, maybe?"

"Not Scrabble?" Erin said, raising an eyebrow.

Jay paused, wondering what Erin was getting at. He did have both games in his cupboard. "Okay…we'll play Scrabble."

"Yes!" Erin said, bouncing up and down on the sofa with delight. She got up to get her wallet and as she sat back down, Jay asked what she was doing with her wallet.

"How much you wanna bet that you're gonna win?" she asked playfully.

"How much have you got?" Jay asked from the other side of the table.

"Exactly…forty-two dollars."

Jay pulled out his own wallet and pulled out forty-two, slapping it on the side of the table. "Winner takes all?"

Erin slapped down her half of the bet and said, "You're on."

***Two hours later***

Needless to say, Jay and Erin's Scrabble game got very heated since eighty-four dollars was on the line and they both wanted to play until all the tiles in the box had been drawn and each player had used as many as they could.

Erin had been trailing Jay the entire game, and she was losing by 6 points with only two tiles left. Jay had a smirk on his face. He had three tiles left, but his letters looked like crap. Erin's two tiles weren't good either, and she wished that there was some rule that allowed players to trade when they were both stuck. But there was no such rule, so after three minutes of intense thinking, Jay managed to get rid of his three tiles to spell the word _WASP. _Erin groaned as he tallied up his score with a smug grin on his face.

24 points for Jay.

That left Erin trailing by 30 points with two tiles to work with. As she began to examine the board once again, she had no idea what she could with a Z and an A on a board that was already crammed with various different words. There were barely any free spaces off a letter that didn't have a requirement of connecting to another word. Erin sighed a few times, and Jay asked, "You wanna concede right now?"

"No way," Erin said, not lifting her eyes from the board. After a few more minutes of silence, she gasped as she realized that she could win.

"What?" Jay asked, hoping that she hadn't figured out a way to beat him. His heart rate increased as Erin got rid of her last two letters to form _ZAP _off of the P that Jay had put down on his last turn.

And Erin's Z was on the triple letter score box.

Erin counted up her score and happily scribbled a 34 onto her side of the score sheet and proceeded to total up their scores. Erin beat Jay by 4 points, and as soon as she yelled, "Yes!" and grabbed the cash, Jay put his head in his hands and groaned. Erin giggled and as he looked up, she said, "What? You can't handle losing at Scrabble to a girl?"

"I lost forty-two dollars!"

"Sucks for you!" Erin screamed. At that moment, Jay moved around to Erin's side of the table and kissed her passionately, leaning over her as he slowly lowered her so her back was on the rug. She put her hands on the back of his neck and in his hair as he held her shoulder with one hand and supported himself with the other.

After a few heated minutes, Erin pulled away to catch her breath. As she lay with Jay over her, panting into his face, he saw a light in her eyes that he'd never seen before. "I want to, Jay, I just don't feel strong enough, okay? These stupid ribs of mine-"

Jay cut her off by putting his pointer finger on her lips. "You don't have to explain. I get it. Just let me know when you're ready."

"Okay," Erin replied, smiling as she kissed him again, keeping them on the floor for a little while longer.


	12. Now

**Hi all - I apologize that this chapter is not Christmas themed but I thought that I would give you all the gift of updating with a new chapter! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, depending on what you celebrate. Happy Holidays, and I hope to update again within the next week. :D**

Chapter 12

While Olinsky and Voight were checking out a possible lead on the other side of town, the rest of the team was idly filling out paperwork from the week before or trying to generate leads on the current case. Some were also waiting for calls from their CIs to see if they could offer any help. Halstead had gotten zero calls back from any of his, and since he had his paperwork finished, he was scrolling through apartment listings for him and Erin. Unbeknownst to him, Ruzek was walking back from the break room and saw what was on his computer screen.

"Halstead, why are you looking at apartment listings?" Ruzek asked with a raised eyebrow as he passed behind Jay's desk.

Jay immediately switched to another window and shrugged, "No reason."

"People generally apartment shop when they're moving, bro," Ruzek reasoned.

"Shut it, Ruzek," Jay snapped. Ruzek whistled and after Ruzek sat down again, Jay made eye contact with Antonio, who was giving him the "Antonio raised eyebrow" look. Jay raised his eyebrows in return and when back to looking at his computer. He only switched back to the apartment listing window after he had dimmed the screen brightness.

"Speaking of moving, when's Erin coming back?" Atwater asked.

Jay turned towards everyone and said, "She has a psychiatric evaluation next week and then she's good to go. Apparently her ribs also need another week of rest too."

"Thank heavens," Antonio replied happily, stopping Ruzek from making another silly comment. Atwater nodded in agreement, and Ruzek just slinked back into his chair and said, "We just need her back, that's all."

"Oh, yeah?" Jay asked with a smirk. "You want more estrogen in the room?"

Atwater and Antonio cracked up with Jay as Ruzek spilled most of his coffee on himself in an attempt to stand up and escape the criticisms that were sure to follow. He stood next to his desk for a few seconds, then announced, "I'm going to go change. I've got some clothes in my locker." He laughed himself as he headed down the stairs.

Voight came in from the rollup as Ruzek was heading down the stairs, and after looking around he asked the group, "What happened to Ruzek?"

"He spilled coffee on himself," Jay said, trying not to crack up, "Where's Olinsky?"

"He's meeting a CI so he dropped me back here," Voight replied. "Jay."

"Yeah?"

"Has Erin contacted you the past few days? I haven't heard from her."

Jay stuttered as he began to talk, fear that he was about to get busted filling his mind. "Uh…yeah, she said she needs to pass a psychiatric evaluation next week and then she's good to go."

"She's been cleared by her doctor?"

"Yep. But her doctor did say that her ribs could use a bit more rest."

"A word in my office. Now," Voight ordered. As Jay anxiously stood up and followed Voight into his office, the other three cops were stunned into silence. After the door slammed shut, Ruzek returned.

"Why is Jay in Voight's office? With the door closed?"

"Who knows?" Antonio asked in a low tone, signaling to Ruzek to stop talking.

***In Voight's office***

"Could you give Erin a message for me?"

"Uh-" Jay stuttered. He was going to say yes, but Voight cut him off.

"Why is she talking to you and not me?"

"She called you three days ago!" Jay replied angrily.

"Exactly! I haven't heard from her in three days, but you have!" Voight replied in a forceful, low tone. Jay could tell he was angry and wanted to get out of the office as soon as possible.

"I don't control who she does and doesn't contact," Jay said.

"But people can be influenced. And you clearly have an influence over her," Voight concluded, "I'm telling you to back off starting now."

"Are you kidding me? We're work partners. I care a lot about her," Jay replied, putting a finger up to stop Voight from interrupting. "I'm not finished," Jay spat. "After we found her, Erin asked me to take care of her for a while, so I did. I just did what I was asked."

"Nothing more?" Voight asked, head tilted at an angle. "'Cause if I hear that you're more than just friends, you are getting kicked out of my unit before you can say her name. Now go. I don't want to see you until tomorrow unless you generate a lead. Go."

"Yes, sir," Jay said in a pissed-off tone. After flinging the office door open and sighing heavily, he shut down his computer, grabbed his jacket, phone, and keys, said a friendly goodbye to everyone, and left.

***That evening, at Jay's apartment***

After three hours of running random errands around town, Jay entered his apartment with four bags of groceries and a new hat for Erin. He had seen it in the clothing store next to the supermarket, and thought why not buy her something as a little gift after all she'd been through.

"Erin? Where are you?" Jay shouted into the apartment. A couple of seconds later, Erin came into the kitchen wearing sweatpants and one of Jay's shirts. While she was definitely wearing casual clothes, Jay thought to himself that she looked so damn beautiful. But apparently he wasn't allowed to think of her that way even though that's what Jay's heart wanted.

"You're back a little early," Erin commented, looking at Jay's eyes as Jay tried to mask his anger and frustration. Jay was thankful that he could break eye contact with Erin to put the grocery bags on the floor, but when he looked back up, he knew from her facial expression that she could see right through him. "What's wrong, Jay?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Jay quickly replied, opening the fridge to put groceries away.

"Jay, talk to me. Please," Erin begged, putting her hand on his shoulder. Jay tossed the bread he had been holding in the fridge, took Erin's hand, and told her, "Well, it kind of sucks when you feel a certain way about a person and your boss tells you that you're not allowed to think that way."

"What on earth are you talking about? Are you talking about me? About Voight?" Erin asked, concerned. As she rubbed Jay's arm, he replied, "Voight basically told me to back off. He was pissed because I've heard from you since three days ago and he hasn't.

"It made feel so angry because he was implying I shouldn't be in love with you and that I don't deserve you. He said he'd kick me out of Intelligence if he found out that I was anything more than a friend to you."

Erin took a step back, pondering her options. She felt so bad, but part of her was wondering whether Voight was right. As she reached into a cabinet for her painkillers, she said, "You're driving me to Voight's house."

"When?"

"Right now."


	13. Voight

**Hi all! I hope everyone is having a great holiday season! This chapter is shorter than the last few but I had a lot of fun writing it (and I'm sure a few of you have been waiting for the ending of this chapter :D)! Enjoy!**

**As always, please leave a review for me - I love reading all of them! Thanks!**

Chapter 13

"Take the next right and his house will be the third on the left," Erin stated as she gave Jay verbal directions to Voight's house. Erin herself wasn't sure what she was going to do when they got to Voight's house. She hadn't even packed a duffle bag of stuff (which she would need if she was going to stay there) – she had just told Jay to get in the car and drive. She wasn't sure if her painkillers were messing with her head, but she was sure of one thing: that she was really angry at Voight, but torn between following his rules and defending Jay.

"We're here," Jay announced quietly as he put the car into park. He looked at Voight's front door while he waited for Erin to do something. But when he noticed that she was staring out the windshield, he nudged her shoulder. "We're here," he repeated.

"Oh," Erin said in surprise. She looked down at her shoes, and then into Jay's eyes. They appeared to be full of confusion, anxiety, and concern, but they were also full of love. After looking at Jay for another minute, neither of them saying anything, she told Jay to stay in the car as she got out and proceeded to strut up to the front door. Jay was unsure of what she was going to do, but he knew that all he could do now was sit in the car and wait.

***At Voight's front door***

Erin rang the doorbell and took a couple of deep breaths. She stuck her hands in the front pockets of the jeans she was wearing, and looked at the doormat as Voight opened the door. "Erin," he said with relief, "I'm glad to see you."

"You too," Erin replied nervously. Suddenly, some angry side of her kicked in, and she emotionally snapped.

"Jay told me what you said to him today."

"Now, Erin-" Voight attempted to speak, but was cut off.

"Stop harassing him and telling him to back off! He is the main reason that I'm feeling as good and as stable as I am right now. Not that I would call me right now emotionally stable, but I think you get the message.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but I care about Jay. A lot. To the point where I love him and there's nothing you can do about us being together. And don't try to kick him out of Intelligence, because if you do, you'll lose two detectives in one day. Got it? Great. Bye." As she finished talking, Erin whirled around and headed straight for Jay's car, leaving Voight in a state of shock in his own doorway. Jay watched Erin storm back towards him, and as Voight slowly shut the door, he wondered what she had said.

When Erin got back in and slammed the door shut, Jay was about to ask what had happened when Erin buckled in her seatbelt and ordered, "Drive. Please." Jay obliged, turning the car around and heading back towards his apartment. Erin didn't give any other instructions during the first half of the drive, so Jay just drove back to his apartment building.

Once he had turned off the ignition, Erin stated, "I told Voight to stop telling you to back off."

Jay looked at Erin with raised eyebrows as she continued, "No, actually, I basically yelled at him. Suddenly this angry side of me just overrode any nice side that might have come out when I talked to him. I just felt like I had to stand up for you because I love you and I want to be with you." No sooner had Erin stopped talking did Jay lean over and kiss her passionately. After overcoming the initial surprise that she felt, Erin reciprocated and deepened the kiss.

After passionately kissing for a couple of minutes, Erin pulled back and opened her car door. When Jay appeared slightly bemused at her sudden exit, she stepped out of the car while teasing, "Do you want to keep kissing in a car? Cause I have a better idea."

Jay got out of the car and locked it as he began to race after Erin, who was dashing up the stairs to his apartment. Since he was on the second floor, she didn't need much energy to beat him to the door. She leaned back against the door, arms crossed, as Jay stopped in front of her with his keys in his right hand. She could tell from the light in his eyes that she had turned him on, and only now observed how handsome he was. She kissed him and put her arms in his hair as he kissed her and fumbled with the lock. He took his lips away from hers for a split second to get the key in the lock, pulling her inside and locking the door behind them.

Jay pushed Erin against the wall as he tossed his jacket onto the floor, moving down to kiss her neck. Erin gasped in anticipation, but Jay stopped kissing her out of worry and stood up a little. Their faces were inches from each other as Jay asked, "Are you sure? Cause if you don't feel well enough-"

Erin kissed Jay to cut him off, and after a couple of seconds she replied, "I'm sure. And my painkillers have kicked in so might as well take advantage of that." Jay smiled as he kissed her again, and after a few seconds he lifted her up and carried her to his room.


	14. Truth

**Hello to all of my fabulous readers...I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in a while, so as a little treat to help you get through your Monday here is an update! I hope I don't make you guys angry, but please know that I'm trying to add more dimension to the story.**

**Also, can I just say that I'm SO EXCITED for #Linstead to potentially happen in two days! It's about time. :)**

Chapter 14

***Three days later***

"You sure you don't want me to take the day off?"

"Jay, I'm sure. I can drive myself to the psychiatrist's office," Erin snapped.

"Okay," Jay conceded, "Let me know how it goes?"

"Of course," Erin said, "I'll stop by the station after the appointment."

"Sounds good," Jay said, "I love you."

"Love you too," Erin said, blowing Jay a kiss as she exited his apartment. After he heard the door shut, Jay put his hands in his hair and sighed.

He hadn't found the guts to tell her that maybe she wasn't quite ready to go back to work because she'd had two more panic attacks in the last day.

Both times they'd been sitting on his couch. Both times Erin had dozed off. Both times Jay thought she was fine. Both times she'd suddenly starting squirming and screaming until Jay managed to shake her enough to wake her up. If she was worrying about those panic attacks, like she probably was when they went to bed last night, her head wouldn't be in an appropriate place to return to work, especially since they could get a case similar to what had happened to her. But Erin was stubborn and good at hiding her emotions, which had Jay worried even more.

He picked up his phone, keys, and jacket and headed out the door to go to work. As he got in his car and stopped at a light on the way to the precinct, he was torn between warning Voight about Erin or if he just let Erin do her thing because she was her own person.

***Three hours later***

Jay had just finished talking to one of his criminal informants about the current gang case they were working on when Nadia hung up the phone at the other end of the room. "Halstead?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Jay said, scooting his chair back a couple of feet so he could make eye contact.

"You've got a visitor at the rollup," Nadia said, a smile crawling onto her lips.

"Thanks," Jay said, "Sargent, I'll be right back."

"Anything from your CI?" Voight asked.

"Nothing yet, but he said he'd check back into his records and call me back with anything he gets."

"Cool," Voight replied, allowing Jay to head down the back hallway, down the stairs to the cage, tech room, and rollup door. He walked out the side door and before he could look around he was jerked back around and found himself inches from Erin, who was leaning against the wall.

Jay smiled and breathed onto her smiling face. "I was hoping it was you. Why did you want to meet out here?"

"So I could do this," Erin replied with a smirk before kissing Jay and pulling his body closer to hers. Jay smiled into the kiss before pulling back an inch and asking, "So it went well then?"

"I passed with flying colors, just like you said I would," Erin said quietly, smiling from ear to ear. "What?" she asked, sensing that Jay was hesitant about something. "Spit it out, Jay," she begged.

"Your panic attacks?" he asked.

"I told the doctor and she said that they'll go away with time," Erin said, sighing, "She's prescribing me medication that's supposed to help that I can pick up tomorrow. What? You still seem worried."

"I'll always worry about you because I love you," Jay said, "And I was just worried that you wouldn't talk about the panic attacks."

"Jay, I'm okay. Doctor said I can come in tomorrow," Erin said.

"Okay, I've got to get back because a CI is gonna be calling back any minute. See you later?"

"See you later," Erin echoed, kissing Jay before he opened the door to head back inside.

Erin sighed to herself as she sat back in her car and locked the doors. She stared out the windshield cussing at herself for what she'd just done.

_You told him the truth, _one side of her head said.

_But not the entire truth, _the other side replied.

The main thing she'd told Jay was true. She had passed the psychiatric exam. But she'd lied about the medication for the panic attacks. There was no medication.

She never told the psychiatrist about the panic attacks because she didn't want to fail.

***That evening, at Jay's apartment***

Jay and Erin had eaten out at a nice Italian restaurant to celebrate Erin being cleared to go back to work. Jay felt really happy for Erin the entire time, but a question lingered in his mind as they drove back to his apartment. Erin had already moved some of her stuff over to Jay's place in advance of them finding a place to move into together; they were signing a new lease next week.

As Erin threw her coat on the back of Jay's couch, Jay asked, "So what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?" Erin asked.

"When you come back to work, are we going to try to hide us or tell Voight? What?" Jay wasn't sure why he hadn't brought it up earlier, but then he remembered that he had wanted Erin to recover and get cleared before he brought it up.

"Maybe just act professional?" Erin proposed.

Jay did a double take. "Are you serious? Voight knows something's up now, so we should just tell him."

"He'll believe me if I say nothing's happening."

"But that's not the truth, Erin," Jay pleaded, "Don't you want us to be a truth?"

"You mean so much to me, Jay," Erin replied, stepping closer to him, "If we tell Voight, I don't want Voight to show up in the middle of the night and beat you up or throw you in Lake Michigan! I want to keep you safe!"

"And I don't want to lie," Jay contended. He sighed and headed for the bathroom to take a shower, but stopped halfway, turning back to ask Erin, "Is there something else going on that you're not telling me about? Cause you can let me in. I won't judge, I promise."

Erin nodded "no" in reply. "No. Nothing at all." Jay believed her, and continued walking towards the shower.


End file.
